What do you see as some of the main issues youth ministry is struggling with today?

• Engaging and partnering with the student’s family for joint ministry together.
• Biblical literacy. We need to have a plan to engage students with the contents of scripture in meaningful ways.
• Lack of an understanding of youth culture and how to engage it in appropriate ways.
• Babysitting mentality.
• We struggle in equipping and training students to take ownership of their youth group.
• Finding responsible adult volunteers who are both spiritually and emotionally mature and are passionate for teenagers.

What do you see as some of the main issues youth ministry is responding to effectively?

• Beginning to focus more on the relational side of youth ministry instead of the programming side.
• A desire to do ministry out in the community instead of just staying inside the church context.

In what ways does youth ministry need to change?

• We need to intentionally connect scripture to student’s lives through relationships and experiences, both as the highest form of learning and internalization.
• Youth pastors need to be more serious about training their volunteers.
• Youth leaders must model authenticity and vulnerability.

Tim Schmoyer is a youth pastor in the Dallas, Texas area. Check out his blog at… oh wait, you’re already here!.

[Read previous authors and posts in this series, “Issues in youth ministry.”]

Posted on December 29, 2006